The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors, and more specifically to an electrical connector including a biasing mechanism configured to position a datum of the connector along a positioning axis orthogonal to a mating axis of the connector with a receptacle.
Electrical connectors are fundamental to routing electrical connections between separate electrical circuits. For example, information stored in a stand-alone memory component may be accessed by a processor after electrical connection is made through an electrical connector. Typically, this electrical connection is made by electrical contact with conductive contact pads on a surface of the component or a corresponding circuit board. The electrical connector generally provides contact pins, or other conductive structures, that are aligned with, and capable of, touching each of the contact pads.
In order to properly align conductive structures, a mating receptacle may be used that positionally constrains the connector. In addition, the mating receptacle may directly constrain the position of a component, or may provide a reference structure for locating the component relative to the connector. Placing precise positional constraints on the connector or component facilitates precise alignment of the contact pins and the contact pads. Without this alignment, one or more pins may miss a contact pad, may connect to the wrong pad(s), or may simultaneously connect to plural contact pads, creating a short circuit.
The need for precise alignment between the contact pins and pads is also dictated by economic considerations. In digital electronics, for example, gold may be used to form each contact pad because of its high conductivity and low propensity for corrosion. Therefore, the cost of a component may be reduced by decreasing the area of each contact pad, and thus the amount of gold in each contact pad. However, the savings from smaller contact pads may be offset by a need for smaller dimensional tolerances during manufacturing of the connector, the receptacle, and the component. Without these smaller tolerances, the tolerances of the receptacle, connector, and component may stack up to produce an overall tolerance greater than the size of the contact pad. The result may be unreliable performance of the connector.
Alignment between the connector pins and the contact pads varies, in part, due to manufacturing tolerances for features of the connector, receptacle, and component, but also because of movable positioning of the connector in the receptacle. Therefore, the precision with which the receptacle and connector are mated may help define acceptable manufacturing tolerances.
The most precise positioning may be achieved with a receptacle dimensioned to tightly receive the connector. However, for practical reasons, the fit cannot be too tight. A tightly fitting connector may be difficult to remove. In addition, a tight fit may require a substantial force to be exerted by a user when the connector and receptacle are mated. As a result, the connector may forcefully move into the mating position, impacting and potentially damaging a pre-positioned component.
Based on the problems associated with a tight fit, arrangements have been provided so that the connector easily mates with the receptacle. However, in this unbiased mating, the connector is allowed to float within the space provided by the receptacle. The resulting variable position of the connector may produce inconsistent connector performance due to significant tolerance stack-up.
An alternative approach to reducing tolerance stack-up involves snap-fitting a connector into a receptacle. In this approach, bias mechanisms on each of two opposing walls bias the connector away from the walls of the receptacle. Although this snap-fit approach may reduce the ability of the connector to float within the receptacle, the approach may fail to precisely position the connector relative to one of the two opposing walls. Instead, competition between the resilience of each of the two bias mechanisms may position the connector at an intermediate but somewhat variable position.
The present invention provides an electrical connector that is positioned in a biased manner relative to a receptacle upon mating. The mated electrical connector is positioned along a first positioning axis of the receptacle in predetermined electrical contact with a target circuit. The connector includes a housing configured to mate with the receptacle along a mating axis for placement at a predetermined position along an orthogonal first positioning axis. The housing also defines a first-positioning-axis datum configured to engage the receptacle. Furthermore, the connector includes an electrically conductive contact structure mounted on the housing, and a biasing mechanism operatively coupled with the housing. The biasing mechanism acts to maintain the first-positioning-axis datum in abutment with the receptacle upon mating of the housing with the receptacle.